1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to sporting equipment. More particularly, this invention relates to fishing tackle. Specifically, the invention is directed to a line tensioner which preferably is mounted on a fishing rod and is selectively engageable with the fishing line extending outwardly from a reel on the rod; and which tensioner includes sheaves through which the line is reeved and a scale that indicates tension in the line.
2. Background Information
One of the most important steps a fisherman can take before going fishing is to check the strike drag on his fishing line so as to be able to apply enough line pressure to set the hook while ensuring there is less line pressure than the line-rated tensile strength. When a fish is hooked and starts to swim away, a length of line will unspool from the reel. In order to tire the fish out, the fisherman needs to have some drag on the line to make it harder for the fish to pull line off the reel. Drag is a type of braking force applied to the reel which counteracts the reel's rotation and therefore resists the unspooling of fishing line therefrom or allows line to be pulled from the reel, adjusted to not overstress line tensile strength. The fisherman can preset the amount of strike drag that will be applied to the fishing line, i.e., the drag applied to the line at the moment the fish strikes and starts to run with the bait. If the drag setting is too high, the line will barely unspool off the reel. This puts the line in danger of breaking when the fish runs. If the drag setting is too low, it will be too easy for the fish to unspool fishing line off the reel and the fish will be unlikely to tire easily.
Fishermen have typically set the strike drag on the line in one of two ways. The first way is relatively imprecise and unrepeatable in that it is set by touch or feel. What is meant by this is that the fisherman will pull a length of line off the reel and will personally sense if the line is unspooling too easily or if it is too difficult to remove the line. If the fishing line is unspooling too easily, the fisherman will change the drag setting to make it more difficult to remove line from the reel. If the line is not unspooling easily enough, the fisherman will change the drag setting to make it easier to remove the line from the reel. The problem with this methodology is that the fisherman could set the drag incorrectly and then, when a fish takes the bait and runs, the force brought to bear on the line might exceed the line's breaking strain and the line will snap. The breaking strain on a line is the force required to snap a line that is under tension. All lines have their breaking strain or tensile strength printed on their packaging. The fisherman will select a line based on its diameter and/or breaking strain and which corresponds generally to the typical weight of fish that they are trying to catch.
The second method for setting strike drag is to secure the free end of the fishing line to a spring balance. One such type of spring balance would be a scale that is typically used to weigh fish by suspending them from a hook provided on the scale. The end of the fishing line is tied into a loop and is engaged with the hook on the spring balance. If the fisherman has to do this procedure alone, he or she will secure hold the rod in one hand and will pull down on the spring balance (which is connected to the fishing line) to the point that the ratchet on the reel starts to slip. This point is easily determined as it is the moment at which the ratchet starts to make a sound (caused by the reel brake starting to slip) when the line is pulled down by the spring balance. At that point, the fisherman will look at the reading on the scale and determine if it is an acceptable measurement relative to the breaking strain on the line. The reading on the scale is desirably less than or equal to the breaking strain of the line. (If a second person is assisting the fisherman, then the fisherman will hold the rod and the assistant will pull down on the fishing line and take a reading on the spring balance.) A typical desirable relationship between the breaking strain and the force applied by pulling down on the fishing line is about 20-30% of the breaking strain. So, for instance, if the fishing line breaking strain is 30 lb, then a measurement on the spring balance of from about 6 lbs to about 9 lbs when the reel is full of fishing line would be a suitable strike drag setting. If the line has a 30 lb breaking strain and the reading on the spring balance is around 2 lbs, for example, then the fisherman knows he or she needs to increase the drag setting. If the reading on the spring balance is around 15 lbs, for example, then the drag setting on the reel will be reduced.
While this second method enables the fisherman to preset the drag to a desired degree, the methods described above have to be done prior to heading out to fish and they still require time and effort to be expended to achieve the correct drag setting. There is therefore still a need in the art for an improved device and method for setting the strike drag or tension on a fishing line which enables a fisherman to do so quickly and in a repeatable manner and at any time, without undue experimentation and time expenditure.